The big-scaled blind snake (''Trilepida macrolepis'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Leptotyphlopidae The Leptotyphlopidae (commonly called slender blind snakes or thread snakes) are a family of small snakes found in North America, South America, Africa and Asia. All are fossorial and adapted to burrowing, feeding on ants and termites. Two subfa ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to southern

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Taxonomy

''T. macrolepis'' is the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Trilepida ''Trilepida'' is a genus of snakes in the family Leptotyphlopidae. Geographic range Species in the genus ''Trilepida'' are native to northern South America and Panama. Taxonomy All of the species in the genus ''Trilepida'' were previously place ...

''.

Geographic range

''T. macrolepis'' has been reported from

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, the

Guianas The Guianas, also spelled Guyanas or Guayanas, are a geographical region in north-eastern South America. Strictly, the term refers to the three Guianas: Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, formerly British Guiana, British, Surinam (Dutch colo ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

.''Trilepida macrolepis''
at the Reptile Database.

Description

''T. macrolepis'' has 14 rows of scales around the body. Each scale has a lighter border. The centers of the scales in the seven

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

rows are uniform dark brown to black. The centers of the scales in the seven ventral rows are light brown to brown.

Reproduction

''T. macrolepis'' is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

References

* Adalsteinsson SA, Branch WR, Trape S, Vitt LJ, Hedges SB (2009). "Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata)". ''Zootaxa'' 2244: 1-50. (''Tricheilostoma macrolepis'', new combination). * Boulenger GA (1893). ''Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families ... Glauconiidæ ...'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (''Glauconia macrolepis'', new combination, p. 69). * Freiberg M (1982). ''Snakes of South America''. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications.189 pp. . (''Leptotyphlops macrolepis'', p. 118). *Hedges SB (2011). "The type species of the threadsnake genus ''Tricheilostoma''

Jan Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

revisited (Squamata, Leptotyphlopidae)". ''Zootaxa'' 3027: 63–64. (''Trilepida macrolepis'', new combination, p. 63). * Peters W (1857). "''Vier neue amerikanische Schlangen aus der Familie der Typhlopinen und darüber einige vorläufige Mittheilungen'' ". ''Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin'' 1857: 402–403. (''Stenostoma macrolepis'', new species, p. 402). (in German and Latin). * Ruthven AG (1922). "The Amphibians and Reptiles of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia". ''University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Miscellaneous Publications'' (8): 1-70. (''Leptotyphlops macrolepis'', new combination, p. 64). Trilepida Snakes of Central America Snakes of Brazil Reptiles of Colombia Reptiles of Ecuador Reptiles of French Guiana Reptiles of Guyana Reptiles of Panama Reptiles of Suriname Reptiles of Venezuela Reptiles described in 1857 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters {{Scolecophidia-stub

Taxonomy

Geographic range

Description

Reproduction

References

Further reading